Monday, October 21, 2013

How to get a reporter s attention for your book

How To Get A Reporter's Attention For Your Book

Reporters are busy people. On any given day they are fielding dozens of phone calls, making calls of their own, reading stacks of newspapers and magazines and rushing to meet deadlines. So how do you break through all the noise to get a reporter or an editor on the phone to listen to your pitch?

In my 15 years as a magazine journalist I've fielded hundreds, if not thousands, of such calls. The following tips are what I've told many authors and publicists. The ones I eventu...

Reporters are busy people. On any given day they are fielding dozens of phone calls, making calls of their own, reading stacks of newspapers and magazines and rushing to meet deadlines. So how do you break through all the noise to get a reporter or an editor on the phone to listen to your pitch?

In my 15 years as a magazine journalist I've fielded hundreds, if not thousands, of such calls. The following tips are what I've told many authors and publicists. The ones I eventually wrote about are the ones who listened and learned from the conversation.

1.) Ask If the Reporter Has Time to Speak to You

Make "Is now a good time?" the first question you ask when you get a journalist on the phone. Don't assume that if he or she is busy, they won't answer the phone because sometimes a reporter on deadline has to pick up. They might be waiting for confirmation from a source or to connect with a colleague in the field, and Caller ID doesn't always give enough information for proper screening. There were m